Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing #450

Fine Art Architectural Restoration staff worked on the restoration of Sol LeWitt’s monumental Wall Drawing #450 (1985) at the Carnegie Museum of Art.  These types of LeWitt murals have design instructions from the artist’s foundation, so they can be reproduced by a trained crew at a later date if needed. Wall Drawing #450 had originally been painted in light sensitive inks that faded and yellowed badly from UV exposure.  A team was assembled to recreate the mural in preservation-grade acrylic paints, utilizing the same colors and application method as the first version. 

This artwork underwent a few restoration campaigns over the years:  in one instance the entire wall collapsed.  Working with a team and following highly specific instructions from the LeWitt foundation for recreating the mural, the colors were built up in layers by pouncing with a cloth pad.  This is performed until a desired color density is achieved.  A light-stable, preservation grade acrylic paint was used for the repainting.  Working on the drywall substrate, the rectangles of color are actually composed of several blended colors that you don’t see until you are right up against the mural. 

Client:  Carnegie Museum of Art